Cricket Ascend System

Chapter 56: Knockout Stage

The group stages were over.

Now the tournament changed completely.

No second chances.

No recovery through points table.

One bad match—

and everything ends.

And honestly—

the atmosphere around the tournament transformed overnight.

Earlier—

group matches felt noisy and exciting.

Now?

Knockouts felt serious.

INTER-SCHOOL PREMIER CUP

KNOCKOUT STAGE

Quarterfinal Fixtures

Quarterfinal 1

Shastri School (Group A #1)

vs

Riverdale School (Group B #2)

Quarterfinal 2

DAV Sector 8 (Group A #2) freewēbnoveℓ.com

vs

Royal Scholars School (Group C #1)

Quarterfinal 3

St. Xavier’s School (Group B #1)

vs

Pinnacle Academy (Group D #2)

Quarterfinal 4

Elite Commerce School (Group D #1)

vs

Army Public School (Group C #2)

The moment fixtures were announced—

students immediately started debating predictions online.

But one thing was clear.

Shastri School had become tournament favorites.

Mostly because of Sahil.

Commentary pages even uploaded graphics now.

"Most Dangerous Knockout Players"

Sahil — Shastri School

Arnav — DAV Sector 8 ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Kabir — Shastri School

Vivek — National Model School

Aarav — Green Valley Academy

And for first time—

district scouts officially arrived.

Not one or two local coaches.

Real district selection panel members.

Former players.

Youth selectors.

Academy representatives.

The system appeared briefly.

DISTRICT SCOUT STATUS

Scout Attention Level: ACTIVE

Current Host Evaluation: Power-based high-potential batter

Scout Concerns

✘ Defensive technique under sustained swing

✘ Shot selection under pressure

✘ Long-format adaptability unknown

Scout Interest Areas

✔ Bat speed

✔ Boundary hitting ability

✔ Match impact

✔ Pressure acceleration

Sahil read everything silently.

Because deep down—

he understood something important.

Scouts didn’t care about Instagram followers.

They cared about whether he could survive bigger cricket.

The quarterfinal venue got upgraded too.

Venue

Metro Sports Ground

Capacity: Around 4,000 spectators

Compared to group stages—

this ground felt massive.

Proper stands.

Electronic scoreboard.

Commentary box above pavilion.

Boundary advertising banners.

Even local sports photographers everywhere.

And crowd sizes exploded.

Especially because clips from tournament had gone viral already.

Students arrived with posters now.

Some literally said:

"PULL IT OUT OF THE GROUND SAHIL!"

Riverside boys somehow occupied entire small stand section.

Constant shouting.

Constant chants.

Commentary setup became fully professional too.

Not just students anymore.

Local sports commentators joined.

One former district player even entered commentary panel.

During warmups—

commentary already focused heavily on Sahil.

"Most sixes in tournament."

"Strike rate above 220."

"And possibly the most explosive school batter we’ve seen in years."

Another commentator added:

"But today matters differently."

"Knockout cricket exposes players."

That line stayed in Sahil’s head longer than expected.

Because honestly—

he knew it was true.

Group-stage destruction looked impressive.

But knockout matches created real pressure.

One bad innings here—

and hype vanished instantly.

Meanwhile—

the atmosphere around Shastri dressing room stayed intense.

No joking.

No loud music.

Even Aman looked nervous.

Only Coach Verma stayed calm.

As always.

Before practice ended—

he finally spoke.

"Crowd noise means nothing."

Silence instantly.

"Followers mean nothing."

Then his eyes stopped on Sahil briefly.

"Only performances survive knockout cricket."

And somehow—

those words made the stadium suddenly feel even bigger